Talk to Wooster
Spring 2007
World View
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The small tributaries of a river function beautifully, as they flow along, doing just what they’re supposed to do. So it is with talent. A person can spend her life doing quite well on one path. But when the tributaries meet to form a river–when there is a confluence of talents—the result is something deeply exciting.
So it is with Nancy McCarthy ’59, who—at the age of 69—is traveling the world, photographing its people, animals, and scenery. McCarthy, who says she believes in an “unfolding universe,” analyzes her photography skills by describing the tributaries of her life.
She came to Wooster because of a deep interest in journalistic writing. “I really enjoyed telling a story, capturing the moment, the cause and effect of things,” she says.Today, her storytelling instinct forms the basis of her photography.
An art course at Wooster during her senior year, taught by Sybil Gould, revealed that McCarthy had artistic talent. “ One of the things that Sybil suggested was sharpening a piece of wood and dipping it in ink. She sent us out into the woods to see what we could do,” remembers McCarthy. The unusual medium, which looked like a combination of ink and charcoal, enticed young McCarthy to create drawings of historical buildings in New Orleans. She fine-tuned the medium, using sharpened matchsticks, and sold her drawings. Her most exciting sale, she remembers, was a gift for Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim, commissioned by actor Tony Perkins. Today, her photographs reflect an artist’s attention to detail.
She layered her B.A. in history with an M.A. in American history and degrees in fashion and interior design. And, although she describes the fashion design industry as “too rough for me—with values different from mine,” she is still intrigued by what clothing and jewelry reveal about the people they adorn. For a while, she designed jewelry, but found the art form “too solitary.” Today, her photographs reflect her love of jewelry and fabric.
She fell into a job counseling fashion design students at the State University of New York and stayed for the next 27 years. She discovered that engaging with people was essential to her happiness. Today, her images reflect her ability to put her subjects at ease and her deep respect for the individual.
When Nancy and her husband, Bruce Herzog, designed and built a house in Connecticut and then one in Pennsylvania, she discovered that she had a skill for using the relationship between space and light to create welcoming rooms. Today, her luminescent photos reveal an eye for the “perfect” light.
Capturing the Moment
“I want to capture the moment. I’m entrepreneurial by nature—with the ability to quickly size up the situation and see its potential.”
